A Parting Dream
by Krystyn Poe
Summary: A good friend of Cedric's has to deal with a nightmare that's about to come true...MAJOR GoF spoliers


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Disclaimer and Author's Note: I don't own Harry, Cho, Cedric, or any of the other wonderful stuff that belongs exclusively to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. There are **_major GoF spoliers_** in here, as in quotes from the book (please don't sue me, Ms. Rowling! I'm penniless anyways!). Lyria is mine, and I'm considering using her again, but that depends on feedback and such (so please review this!). If you want to use her, go right ahead, just tell me, okay? I might want to demand some editing rights to keep her personality constant. But blah-de-blah, I don't like this much, but hey, I'm the author and I was asked to post something else, so, well, you got what you asked for, my very first Harry Potter fic. Be brutal

A Parting Dream

by_ Krystyn Poe_

Lyria Azrael flew to a sitting position in her bed, covered in a cold sweat, and shivering like crazy. Her breath was shallow and quick, and she couldn't help but feel sick as she looked at the clock, 3:36 am. She shook her head, trying to dislodge the nightmare from her mind, but no matter what she couldn't shake it…

__

"Harry!" Cedric Diggory was shouting, "You all right? Did it fall on you?"

"No." Harry Potter replied. He was in bad shape, his leg was bleeding, his robes were covered in what looked like some sort of monster saliva, and he was leaning against a large hedge to support himself.

There was a pause in the conversation before Harry panted, "Take it, then. Go on, take it. You're there."

Cedric looked at the Tri-Wizard cup, glowing in all its glory. Lyria could tell he wanted to take it, but knew he wouldn't. He wrenched his gaze from it and looked back at Harry. "You take it. You should win. That's twice you've saved my neck."

"That's not how it's supposed to work. The one who reaches the cup first gets the points. That's you. I'm telling you, I'm not going to win any races on this leg."

"No."

"Stop being noble. Just take it, then we can get out of here."

Lyria had seen this argument in the center of the maze a hundred times over it seemed, but it kept coming at her again and again. She tried to force her thoughts away from the dream, but she couldn't seem to get her mind off of what was going happen. She watched at they continued to argue over who would take the cup in her mind, Harry getting more and more agitated while Cedric became more and more firm, until the argument reached its climax…

__

"Just take the cup!" Harry shouted.

"No." Cedric repeated firmly. He approached Harry and said, a bit more softly, "Go on."

"Both of us." Harry said suddenly.

"What?"

"We'll take it at the same time. It's still a Hogwarts victory. We'll tie for it."

"You - you sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah…we've helped each other out, haven't we? We both got here. Let's just take it together."

Cedric grinned. "You're on. Come here."

Lyria watched as Cedric helped Harry over to the cup. She wanted to scream at them, tell them not to touch it, but it was too late. They touched the cup and disappeared in a flash.

Lyria ran to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. She didn't want to relive the rest of it; she couldn't bear to see it all happen again. She couldn't bear to see the death and the resurrection; she didn't need to see it. Hearing it would've been more than enough. She cursed her dreams violently, why the hell did she have to have a precognitive dream _now_? And about _this_ of all things!

She changed into her school robes; there was no way she could go back to sleep now. Sleep would force her to relive the dream again, seeing it all happen right before her eyes and not being able to do anything to prevent it – it was enough to make her go mad. She slipped into the common room and paced for a while, trying to think of anything but the dream. Any memory would be less painful than that. She looked up at the ceiling and saw a little pine bough still hanging there from Christmas. She smiled slightly, remembering the time when everyone was gossiping about who was going to go with who, what they'd be wearing, what the ball would be like, if the champions were good dancers…

__

"Lyria!"

Lyria turned around and saw Cedric running her way from the Great Hall, where they'd just been eating lunch. She hadn't been too hungry and had just dropped in to say hello to some of her fellow Ravenclaws before retreating to the library to work on an essay for her History of Magic class. He had a huge smile on his face as he ran up to her, almost breathless with excitement.

"Cedric, what is it? Did you…"

His smile quickly broadened into a full-fledged grin and he nodded. "Cho said she'd love to go to the ball with me, and that a broomstick ride around the campus beforehand would be lovely." He had a lovestruck expression on his face for a moment that made Lyria stifle a laugh with her hand. She'd never seen Cedric fall so completely head over heals for someone before, and she was glad her reading of Cho's character had been right. She would've hated to see him crushed.

"That's wonderful! See, I told you she'd go with you. You had nothing to worry about." Lyria told the older boy with a smile growing on her face.

"I couldn't've done it without you, I doubt I would've had the courage to ask her out without your encouragement. Sometimes I wonder what I'd do without your advice, little sister."

Lyria always felt a little thrill of happiness when he referred to her as his little sister. They'd known each other for years, even before they were at Hogwarts together, through their parents; the Azraels had been longtime friends of the Diggorys. Ever since they'd met, they'd felt some sort of a connection between them, which is why they managed to stay reasonably close, even though he was nearly three years older than she was and they were in different Houses, Cedric being a Hufflepuff and Lyria being a Ravenclaw.

Lyria reached out and mussed up his dark hair a bit. "And I wonder what I'd do without yours too, big brother."

Cedric quickly moved a hand up to fix his hair, out of pure habit, while shooting Lyria a mock-stern look that almost made her laugh again. But the look died quickly and instead he asked, "Have you decided who you're going with yet?"

Lyria sighed. "No I haven't. I don't think anyone would really want to go with someone like me, and besides…dancing in front of all those people would make me nervous. I've never been to a dance or a ball or anything of the sort before."

Cedric gave her a look. "Oh, come on, I'm sure there are tons of guys who'd like to go with a pretty young lady like you. As for dancing," he waved a hand nonchalantly, "I can show you how. It's not that hard, you know."

Lyria looked up at him doubtfully. "Uh huh, sure, fine, whatever."

Cedric, not put off at all by her sarcastic remark, gave her a thoughtful look. "You know, I don't think Harry's taking anyone to the ball yet, and since he's a champion, he has to have a partner…"

Lyria's eyes widened. "Oh no, no way…there is no way I'm going to ask Harry Potter to go to the Yule Ball with me."

"Oh, come on, why not? It's not like he's an evil demon that's out to get you, he's really a pretty nice guy."

"Well, because…well, for one he's a guy…and for two, he's, well, he's probably never even heard of me before…and for three, well, he's Harry Potter_ for crying out loud!" As much as Lyria hated to admit it, even to herself, she found Harry a little bit intimidating just because he was so famous. From what she knew of him, he seemed reasonably down-to-earth and all, so normally she wouldn't have protested as much, but, well, he was still _Harry Potter_, although this made no difference to Cedric whatsoever._

Cedric sighed. "Lyria…you convinced me to finally ask Cho out, I'm just trying to do you the same favor. Really, you and Harry would get along fine. It's not the end of the world or anything, it's just a little dance." Lyria recognized her own words being shot back at her, and she wilted.

"Alright, I'll ask him, on two conditions."

"Shoot."

"One, if he doesn't agree to go with me, you won't push me into getting a date with someone else. Two…you've got to teach me how to dance."

He smiled. "Deal." They shook hands.

"Why don't you meet me outside the library right after dinner tomorrow night, it won't take too long, dancing isn't complicated. A Ravenclaw like you should pick it up pretty fast."

A weak smile came to her face. "Alright. Now, I've really got to get going, my essay isn't going to get done if I just stand here."

Cedric flashed her another smile, and then walked merrily back into the loud lunchroom, to chat with Cho no doubt. As Lyria went the other way to the library, she wondered how she was ever going to get her essay done with her thoughts filled with dancing lessons and dreams about the ball.

Lyria smiled to herself faintly, remembering the lessons Cedric had given her. True to his word, dancing hadn't been nearly as hard as she'd thought. She curtsied to an imaginary partner and waltzed around the room a bit before she became self-conscious and stopped suddenly, feeling a dull flush creep up her cheeks. She berated herself for going off on such a tangent like she was a silly first year all over again. She looked around quickly to make sure no one had seen, and then smacked her forehead. It was nearly four in the morning, who in their right mind would be up at this absurd hour?

Certainly not her…

Lyria sat on the couch, looking up at the bow again, sighing. Harry Potter. Nearly every girl even close to his age or younger would've given an arm and a leg to go to the Yule Ball with him…

__

After Cedric's dancing lessons, Lyria was actually reasonably confident about the Yule Ball. At least she knew she wasn't going to make a complete idiot of herself on the dancing floor now. Now she had to hold up her end of the bargain…and ask Harry to the dance.

She sat down at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast, but spent more time picking at her eggs than eating them. She risked many swift glances over to the Gryffindor table, seeing Harry talking with his friends Ron and Hermione. She sighed, her nervousness catching up with her. Wiping her palms on her robes, she was about to go over to the table and talk to him, when suddenly Padma Patil and a couple other fourth-years sat down by Lyria.

"So, who do you think Harry'll be taking to the ball?" One of her cohorts asked her.

"Oh, he asked my sister just the other day, and she came over and practically begged me to go with Harry's friend Ron…" she continued on a while, but Lyria wasn't listening. She felt crushed – she hadn't even gotten the chance to ask him before he was snatched up by one of the prettiest girls in the school. Well, at least she'd found out before she'd made a complete fool out of herself, and now Cedric wouldn't try to get her a date with anyone, so that was a good thing.

Oh well, now she had a legitimate excuse to skip the ball…but Cedric obviously wanted her to go and have a good time, like he would with Cho…she sighed, food no longer appealing to her at all as her mind went around in dizzy circles.

Balls were not worth this.

Actually, contrary to what she had expected, Lyria had enjoyed the ball quite a bit. Whether she was watching Cedric and Cho waltz around the floor seemingly in their own little world (which was adorable from her point of view), or watching Parvati and Padma leave Harry and Ron for two Beaubaxtons boys (which was quite amusing), or even watching little Ginny Weasley dancing with Neville Longbottom (which almost made her crack up) didn't really matter, they were all well worth the effort of getting dressed up. She even got asked to dance once or twice by a couple of boys she didn't recall ever meeting before, so at least her dancing lessons weren't totally wasted. Heck, even Cedric danced with her once…

__

"I'm sorry you didn't get to go with Harry," he apologized.

Lyria gave a light shrug. "It's alright, I don't think he was too interested in dancing anyways, if the way he treated Parvati was any indication."

Cedric chuckled slightly. "Yes, I suppose. Parvati didn't really seem his type anyways."

Lyria raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh? And since when are you so well-educated about personalities of the younger students?"

He shrugged. "I just noticed, that's all. Cho heard about Parvati from her sister, Padma (she's in your year, right?) in passing, as well. She seems like the gossipy type from what I've heard."

Lyria laughed. "Oh, I'll agree with that. She and Lavender, another Gryffindor, are notorious for spreading rumors. I'll bet Harry was desperate if he asked them." She added with a smile.

Cedric smiled too. "Maybe so. I'm still sorry you didn't get to go with him."

Lyria rolled her eyes. "It's not a big deal, I didn't have my heart set on him or anything. You seemed to though." She added, voicing her suspicions.

"Guilty as charged. I was just looking out for you, and, well, he seemed nice enough…"

"I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. Especially when it comes to guys," she admonished.

"Okay, okay, I get the point. I won't try to set you up with anyone ever again, promise." He twirled her around and she smiled.

"Thanks. Not that I don't appreciate your intentions, but, well, I think I can do this on my own. And if I can't, then I'll ask. Now, tell me about how things are going with you and Cho…"

Lyria smiled as she remembered that night, it really hadn't turned out so bad after all, and, true to his word, Cedric stopped bugging Lyria about Harry. Ever since then, Cedric and she had been spending less time together, she was busy getting ready for exams, he was busy preparing for the last task (and with Cho). She regretted this deeply, especially after she realized her time with him was going to be shortened a great deal…damn dreams!

And there she was, her mind having gone in a complete circle, all the way back at the dream. She desperately tried to block the next part from her mind, but her memories had only delayed the inevitable…

__

"Where are we?" Harry asked as he and Cedric appeared in a graveyard of some sort. It gave Lyria an eerie sense of foreboding…

"Did anyone tell you_ the cup was a Portkey?" Cedric asked._

"Nope." Harry paused. "Is this supposed to be part of the task?"

"I dunno. Wands out d'you reckon?" Cedric sounded nervous. Lyria wanted to scream at them to touch the Portkey again and go back to safety, but she was mute. It was as if she wasn't even there…

"Yeah." There was another heavy pause. "Someone's coming."

Suddenly, Harry dropped to his knees in pain, and as Cedric bent over to see if he was alright, a chilling voice said, "Kill the spare."

Lyria screamed at the top of her lungs, but it was no use, they couldn't hear her. The curse "Avada Kedavra!_" sounded, and there was a flash of green light that went straight toward Cedric, through him, and stole his life away as it left again. He fell to the ground, dead._

It was no use, Lyria, for the first time in years, cried. She cried for the inevitable loss of the friend she considered a brother, for the pain and guilt Harry was going to endure when he came back alive, for the Hufflepuffs, Hogwarts, the entire wizarding community, Cho, and, finally, for herself. Why, of all people to kill, did Voldemort have to kill Cedric, and why did Cedric have to be the unlucky fellow to stumble upon him just then?

She cried for hours, her mind still spinning, until it was nearly six in the morning. Then the early risers started to trickle into the common room, and she fled from it, not wanting anyone to see her in this condition, and not wanting to explain why she was so. Instead of going to the Great Hall, or to the bathrooms, she went to where the Hufflepuff rooms were. She waited around the corner, premature tears still running down her cheeks, for Cedric to appear. There was no way she was going to let him go off and die without her saying goodbye first.

After what seemed like forever, he appeared. Lyria quickly wiped her wetted cheeks with the sleeves of her robes and went to catch up with him.

"Cedric!" Cedric turned around at the sound of her voice.

"Hey Lyri – what's wrong? You were crying…" He said, his voice going from friendly to concerned in a heartbeat.

Lyria wrapped her friend in a crushing hug. "Cedric, I just want you to know how much you meant to me. Your friendship means more to me than anything in the world, and I want you to know that I'll never forget everything you've done for me. Ever." She choked out.

Cedric wrapped her arms around the small girl, attempting to comfort her. "I love you too Lyria, but I've got to ask, what brought this on? You're acting like there's no tomorrow."

Lyria's voice caught in her throat. She thought about the dream, how she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would come true, about the Yule Ball, about all the other things she and Cedric had shared through the years. She wanted to warn him, to tell him he couldn't go to the third task, to tell him to touch the Portkey as soon as they got to the graveyard so he'd be brought back to safety…but she couldn't do it. It was his destiny to die today, to die bravely and become a martyr for the upcoming struggles. And no matter how she wanted it to be different, she had to let her Cedric go. She felt like a mother letting go of a son rather than a younger sister watching her brother go off to war at that moment, but it didn't matter. The feelings were akin to each other. She looked up at Cedric with shining eyes and merely said, "I just wanted you to know."

He looked slightly skeptical, but accepted the answer, giving her another squeeze of encouragement. As he broke the embrace, he asked, "Wanna come to breakfast with me and Cho?"

Lyria hesitated, then shook her head. "No, I'll let you two have some time alone." She'd had her time with Cedric; Cho deserved some more than she did now.

Cedric nodded. "Okay, well, wish me luck today. I'll see you after the task is completed, okay?"

Lyria nodded, knowing it was all a lie, but a lie she had to play along with. "Good luck, I'm sure you'll do just fine." She put as much confidence into her voice as she could manage. He walked down the hallway, and suddenly he was gone.

Lyria sank to the ground knowing she'd never see him again, but feeling at peace with her grief, finally accepting what was to be. She walked back to the common room, curled up on the couch, and waited for the awful news to reach her. She was ready.


End file.
